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Villagers have reacted with fury to councillors giving the green light to double the charge to cross an historic toll bridge which residents have used for free for generations.
Despite angry locals blasting the £1 crossing at Eling Toll Bridge being doubled to £2 and introducing charges for previously exempt residents, the controversial proposals were passed at a council meeting.
The centuries-old bridge, in the waterside Hampshire village of Eling on the edge of the New Forest, is a mere 100 yards long but is vital not only to locals but to an area steeped in history.
The structure – which spans Bartley Water and links one end of the village to the other – is thought to date back to before 1700 and features a 900-year-old historic tide mill, one of only two in operation in the country.
Experts believe a causeway would have existed there around 2,000 years ago in Roman times.
But now, the overhaul of the existing pricing – which is hoping to reduce the amount of traffic using the bridge as well as raising money for repairs – is one step closer after it was voted through at a Totton and Eling Town Council meeting.
Electrician Martin Russell lives by the bridge and runs his business out of the Eling
Despite the proposed increased charge being slammed by locals, it was passed at a meeting of Totton and Eling Town Council
Peter Ramm checks the wedges around the great spur wheel inside Eling Tide Mill
The recommendation was voted through with eight in favour, two against and eight abstentions.
The Lib Dem council must now see what decision is made by The New Forest District Council.
Currently, those exempt include locals living on Eling Hill road, NHS staff on duty, council workers, Blue Badge holders, Parcel Force and Royal Mail vehicles, visitors to the cemetery, and those attending services at St Mary’s Church.
Totton and Eling Town Council say the changes will help pay for repairs for the bridge as it has defects which require thousands of pounds to fix and offered a £25 annual pass.
Locals are furious and branded the new proposals ‘draconian’.
Peter Ramm, 59, was until recently the miller at Eling Tide Mill. Mr Ramm said: ‘That whole area has been sadly neglected for a while now.
‘There are problems on the bridge and there’s a lot of maintenance that’s been put back and put back.
‘The increase is going to put more people off, that’s what it’ll do.
‘I don’t think it’s a good decision, to be honest, there’s a whole raft of things that need to be addressed. In isolation, I don’t think this is a good approach.
‘I think it will come to a point where you won’t be generating enough revenue to employ the toll-keepers and they can’t put in big machinery there because of the heritage of the site.
‘I don’t think they have thought it through properly. The bridge is so important for the mill, it is critical for the mill.’
Mr Ramm said the site is of historical significance and suggested there may be a Roman mill underneath the tide mill.
He said: ‘The causeway has been repaired many times over the years… A causeway would have existed a couple of thousand years ago, all the evidence indicates that.
‘Needless to say it’s a very historic bridge.
‘If there’s a Roman mill underneath the mill – and we think there is – then the area is even more important than we think, but the council don’t really understand that.’
Electrician Martin Russell lives by the bridge and runs his business out of the Eling.
The 57 years old said him and his personal assistant wife Joanne have been using it for years and have benefited from free passage as members of the community.
‘I’m pretty angry about it all’, Mr Russell said.
‘We have lived here in this bungalow for 25 years and my grandad lived here in the 1920s. As locals we have never really paid.
‘I live and run my business out of Eling, people on the bridge usually just say ‘oh don’t worry about it, go through’.
‘But lately they are getting shitty and have made me pay. We would use that bridge daily, my wife and I… I’m not going to pay £2.
‘It’s going to put 10 minutes onto my journey. It’s a bad decision by the council because everyone has lived here for years and uses it.
‘I wrote the council a snotty letter.’
Merrilyn Dracass, 80, who has lived in Eling Hill since 1979, said: ‘The bridge has been there for hundreds of years, and it’s not fit for heavy traffic.
‘The proposal by the town council to solve this is to double the toll.
‘We only live 50 to 100 yards from the bridge, our neighbours even closer, so to suggest we should go the long way round to get to Totton if we don’t pay the toll is ridiculous.
‘It can be incredibly congested, and one doesn’t want to be sitting in a line of traffic puffing out diesel fumes. It’s not eco-friendly.
‘The sensible thing for residents is to go across the toll bridge. We have had our free passes to cross the bridge for 40 years.
‘I cannot see any good reason why they should be withdrawn.’
Catering company owner Abdulmuneer Kunnilabbas, 52, said: ‘It’s not going to work.
‘I will never pay that £2, it’s too much. It’s a really bad decision.’
Local residents are currently exempt from having to pay the toll to cross the bridge
Experts believe there may have been a bridge on the same site 2,000 years ago in Roman times
One local, who didn’t want to be named, said she has enjoyed being exempt for years but is unhappy she will now have to pay.
‘Going up to £2 is a 100 per cent mark up’, she said. ‘What’s their justification for that?
‘I think taking away local people’s exemptions is really unfair. What if you just need to pop over the bridge?
‘Can’t the council find the money without charging us more?
‘This country has gone to the dogs. It’s just rubbish. It’s the world gone mad.’
Conservative councillor for Marchwood and Eling, Richard Young, said: ‘The wider community costs from removing residents’ exemptions would include generating additional vehicle emissions, worsening air quality, and creating a barrier to residents freely accessing their education, healthcare, and retail facilities.
‘To date there has been no modelling, no business plan, and no equality impact analysis published which might help our community to better understand the necessity of what the Town Council proposes.’
However, David Harrison, Liberal Democrat councillor for Totton South, said the changes are necessary.
He said: ‘The structure of the bridge needs to be maintained and to do that, you must have a model that makes sense financially.
‘The increase from £1 to £2 is justified and there has not been a price increase in 20 years.
‘While residents won’t be happy about the increase, they will be happy with the reduced amount of traffic.
‘Those living in Eling village and Bury Brickfields can buy an annual pass costing £25 to cover the administration charges.’
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